The British territory of Gibraltar, a rocky outcrop at the southern tip of Spain, hosts an annual international chess tournament. The Gibraltar Masters is a very large open Swiss and last month's edition boasted 232 players and dozens of top grandmasters.
The winner was the evergreen Ukrainian GM, Vassily Ivanchuk, who achieved an incredible score of 9/10 giving away just two draws. Chasing him all the way was English GM Nigel Short in a return to form after some recent poor performances. Short's score of 8½ would normally have been enough for first place and was a point clear of the rest of the field.
Today's game is from the fourth round at Gibraltar and features Ivanchuk playing White against Hungarian GM Viktor Erdos.
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 a6 4.Ngf3 Nf6 5.Bd3 c5 6.e5 Nfd7 7.c3 Nc6 8.O-O g5!? A radical way of handling this variation of the French Tarrasch. Rather than be subject to White's kingside attack, Black launches a pawn storm himself. 9.Bb1 g4 10.Ne1 h5 11.Nc2 Rg8 12.Re1 cxd4 13.cxd4 f5 14.Nf1 --- Taking en passant would only feed Black pieces over to the kingside. White calmly untangles his pieces. 14.--- Be7 15.Bd2 Nf8 16.f4! --- The drawback of Black's premature attack is that 16...gxf3 17 Qxf3 highlights the weakness of h5 and his uncastled king. The kingside is now closed and White can at his leisure pursue the initiative elsewhere on the board – especially along the open c-file. 16.--- b5 17.a3 a5 18.Bc3 Nd7 19.Qd2 Nb6 20.b3 Kf7 21.Nfe3 Kf8 22.Bb2 Kg7 23.Rc1 Bd7 24.Ne1 a4! By attacking b3 Black can blockade the c-file with a knight on c4. 25.b4 Nc4 26.Qe2 Qb8 27.Nd3 Qa7 28.Nc5 Rgf8 29.Kh1 Rac8 30.Nxc4 bxc4?! Allowing White to set up a favourable imbalance in the pawn position. After 30...dxc4? 31 d5! White is better, but the zwischenzug 30...Bxc5! 31 dxc5 dxc4! opens up the long white diagonal and brings the kingside pawns back into play. 31.Bc2 Bxc5 32.dxc5 Ne7 33.Rd1 Bb5 34.Bc3 Ng6 35.Rd4 Bc6 36.Rb1 Rb8 37.Kg1 Bb5 38.Rbd1 Qe7 39.Qe3 Qa7 The position looks totally blocked and as if a draw is inevitable. Not so! 40.Rxd5!! exd5 41.e6+ Kh6 42.Rxd5 Rbd8 43.Rxd8 Rxd8 44.Bxf5 --- For the sacrificed rook White has only three pawns, and Black's rook is active. But the key features are White's two pairs of connected passed pawns and the open diagonals to the black king. 44.--- Qc7 45.g3 Rd1+ 46.Kf2 Qd8 Black must give back the exchange to defend the threats to his king. The counterattack with 46...Bc6!? 47 Bc2 Rh1 48 f5+ Nf4 (48...Kh7? 49 fxg6+ Kg8 50 Qh6! is hopeless) 49 Be5! Rxh2+ 50 Ke1 Rh1+ 51 Kd2 Qd8+ 52 Kc3 leads nowhere. 47.Bc2 Rd3 48.Bxd3 Qxd3 49.f5+! Qxe3+ 50.Kxe3 Ne7 51.Ke4 --- Black's two pieces are no match for the white king and pawns. The bishop on c3 importantly holds up Black's c-pawn and keeps the black king at bay. 51.--- Bc6+ 52.Ke5 Nd5 53.b5! Nxc3 54.bxc6 Nb5 55.e7 Nc7 56.Kd6 Ne8+ 57.Kd7 Nf6+ 58.Ke6 Ne8 59.Kf7 Nc7 60.e8=Q Resigns
King of The Rock
Problem: White to play and mate in 3.
The British territory of Gibraltar, a rocky outcrop at the southern tip of Spain, hosts an annual international chess tournament. The Gibraltar Masters is a very large open Swiss and last month's edition boasted 232 players and dozens of top grandmasters.
The winner was the evergreen Ukrainian GM, Vassily Ivanchuk, who achieved an incredible score of 9/10 giving away just two draws. Chasing him all the way was English GM Nigel Short in a return to form after some recent poor performances. Short's score of 8½ would normally have been enough for first place and was a point clear of the rest of the field.
Today's game is from the fourth round at Gibraltar and features Ivanchuk playing White against Hungarian GM Viktor Erdos.
1.e4 e6
2.d4 d5
3.Nd2 a6
4.Ngf3 Nf6
5.Bd3 c5
6.e5 Nfd7
7.c3 Nc6
8.O-O g5!?
A radical way of handling this variation of the French Tarrasch. Rather than be subject to White's kingside attack, Black launches a pawn storm himself.
9.Bb1 g4
10.Ne1 h5
11.Nc2 Rg8
12.Re1 cxd4
13.cxd4 f5
14.Nf1 ---
Taking en passant would only feed Black pieces over to the kingside. White calmly untangles his pieces.
14.--- Be7
15.Bd2 Nf8
16.f4! ---
The drawback of Black's premature attack is that 16...gxf3 17 Qxf3 highlights the weakness of h5 and his uncastled king. The kingside is now closed and White can at his leisure pursue the initiative elsewhere on the board – especially along the open c-file.
16.--- b5
17.a3 a5
18.Bc3 Nd7
19.Qd2 Nb6
20.b3 Kf7
21.Nfe3 Kf8
22.Bb2 Kg7
23.Rc1 Bd7
24.Ne1 a4!
By attacking b3 Black can blockade the c-file with a knight on c4.
25.b4 Nc4
26.Qe2 Qb8
27.Nd3 Qa7
28.Nc5 Rgf8
29.Kh1 Rac8
30.Nxc4 bxc4?!
Allowing White to set up a favourable imbalance in the pawn position. After 30...dxc4? 31 d5! White is better, but the zwischenzug 30...Bxc5! 31 dxc5 dxc4! opens up the long white diagonal and brings the kingside pawns back into play.
31.Bc2 Bxc5
32.dxc5 Ne7
33.Rd1 Bb5
34.Bc3 Ng6
35.Rd4 Bc6
36.Rb1 Rb8
37.Kg1 Bb5
38.Rbd1 Qe7
39.Qe3 Qa7
The position looks totally blocked and as if a draw is inevitable. Not so!
40.Rxd5!! exd5
41.e6+ Kh6
42.Rxd5 Rbd8
43.Rxd8 Rxd8
44.Bxf5 ---
For the sacrificed rook White has only three pawns, and Black's rook is active. But the key features are White's two pairs of connected passed pawns and the open diagonals to the black king.
44.--- Qc7
45.g3 Rd1+
46.Kf2 Qd8
Black must give back the exchange to defend the threats to his king. The counterattack with 46...Bc6!? 47 Bc2 Rh1 48 f5+ Nf4 (48...Kh7? 49 fxg6+ Kg8 50 Qh6! is hopeless) 49 Be5! Rxh2+ 50 Ke1 Rh1+ 51 Kd2 Qd8+ 52 Kc3 leads nowhere.
47.Bc2 Rd3
48.Bxd3 Qxd3
49.f5+! Qxe3+
50.Kxe3 Ne7
51.Ke4 ---
Black's two pieces are no match for the white king and pawns. The bishop on c3 importantly holds up Black's c-pawn and keeps the black king at bay.
51.--- Bc6+
52.Ke5 Nd5
53.b5! Nxc3
54.bxc6 Nb5
55.e7 Nc7
56.Kd6 Ne8+
57.Kd7 Nf6+
58.Ke6 Ne8
59.Kf7 Nc7
60.e8=Q Resigns
1-0
Solution: 1 Rxf7! f3+ (1...Rxf7 2 Rb8+ Rf8 3 Rxf8#) 2 Kh3! Re8 (else 3 Rxf8#) 3 Rg7+ Kh8 4 Rh7+ Kg8 5 Rbg7#.